The National Zoo is committed to preserving Asian and African elephants—both in the North American population and in the wild. As part of this mission, the Zoo researches diseases that afflict elephants, such as the elephant herpesvirus, known as elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Researchers at Smithsonian’s National Zoo were the first to identify EEHV in 1995, following the death of our 16-month-old Asian elephant, Kumari, who was Shanthi’s first calf. Since then, these researchers have made significant discoveries on the biology of EEHV.